Artificial Heart For Man, 39

February 03, 1986|By United Press International.

PITTSBURGH — Surgeons early Monday continued to implant an artificial heart into a 39- year-old man on the verge of death in the fourth attempt to use the Jarvik- 7 mechanical pump as a bridge to a human-heart transplant.

The operation began late Sunday at Presbyterian-University Hospital.

``As with all patients that are put on the Jarvik at our institution, they`re in a crisis situation where death is imminent,`` hospital spokesman Tom Chakurda said. ``This device is their only option until transplantation can be initiated.``

The patient, whose name was not released, is suffering from a deterioration of the heart muscle because of hardening of the arteries.

He began having heart problems in July, 1985, and suffered a major heart attack two weeks ago, Chakurda said. His condition continued to deteriorate because of fluid on the lungs and other complications, he said.

Mary Lund, 40, received the mini-Jarvik 7 device Dec. 18 at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis after doctors determined she was near death because of a rare viral attack that destroyed her own heart`s pumping capacity.

The mechanical pump kept Lund alive for 45 days and was replaced last Friday with the heart of a 14-year-old girl. Sunday, doctors described her as alert and oriented.